National Basketball Association

Run to NBA Finals not going as expected for Cavs' Love

Published Jun. 11, 2015 4:45 p.m. ET

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Sitting in a suit courtside Thursday night at Quicken Loans Arena, Kevin Love will reside where he both always and never wanted to be.

His Cleveland Cavaliers are two wins from hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. And since the playoffs' opening round, Love hasn't had anything to do with it on the floor.

"I had so much fun watching it because I want to be in a moment like that," Love told ESPN after the Cavs' NBA Finals Game 1 overtime loss at Golden State. "I've never wanted to be in a game more than that one."

When the Timberwolves traded their dissatisfied power forward Aug. 23 in a three-team deal that netted them eventual Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins, Love insisted his desires to skip town were about one thing -- and it wasn't owner Glen Taylor and former president David Kahn withholding a max contract from him.

"When I think back to being a kid shooting on an eight-foot hoop in my Shawn Kemp jersey, I never dreamed about putting up a triple-double or signing a max contract," Love wrote in an Oct. 23 Players' Tribune article. "I dreamed about holding up a championship trophy. In order to get to that place, I knew that I needed to move on."

Now he's so close. But so far.

With LeBron James and a defensive-minded identity carrying the day, Love and fellow "Big 3" member Kyrie Irving have been relegated to the sidelines with season-ending injuries. But even before Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk yanked Love's left shoulder out of its socket April 26 in Game 4 of the playoffs' first round, Love wasn't as important a piece as he, general manager David Griffin and James -- who called Love immediately after deciding to sign with the Cavaliers and invited him to Northeast Ohio -- had hoped.

Love's 16.4 points and 9.7 rebounds were a significant drop-off from his prior seasons in Minnesota. In some ways, Taylor's prediction that Love would struggle collaborating with fellow superstars was right.

James, Irving and a pair of midseason trades for Timofey Mozgov, Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith vaulted Cleveland from a middling 19-20 in mid-January to the East's second-best record and beyond. Love's role -- he doesn't create his own shots and remains a defensive liability -- was somewhere between minimal and ancillary.

At one point, James even suggested publicly Love could do more to integrate himself, tweeting that he should "fit in," not "fit out" and telling reporters linking the words to Love "it's not a coincidence."

But the sweet-shooting, stretch four whom the Wolves landed in the 2008 draft says he'll be back in Cleveland next year. There's a $16.7 million player option on his contract for next season, and if he wants to wait until 2016 to test free agency when the league's new TV deal kicks in, he'd be wise to exercise it.

Or Love and agent Jeff Schwartz could negotiate a new accord -- which might be more challenging considering James also has a player option for next year and, if he exercises it, would become an unrestricted free agent in 2016.

In any case, Love has stuck with his words from his introductory press conference in August. "I'm committed to this team, committed long-term," he said then.

Last summer, James and Love both said it would take time for the new-look Cavaliers to morph into a championship-caliber team. They already have, but it'll take even more if Love is to become a pivotal piece of the puzzle.

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